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That's a matter of opinion - in my opinion, beating a child to death over the course of days/months is a worse crime.

There are 5 (or was it 4) of these kids in college, apparently succeeding there.

I agree, this is a very, very weird case. On the one hand apparently they are well-educated and well-spoken.

On the other hand, some were chained and beaten, which doesn't match the well-educated and well-spoken thing.

It is purely by luck the children did not die not for a lack of action that could have resulted in their deaths. Most of them do not have more than a 2nd or 3rd grade education. The older children who has relatively normal lives up until their parents decided to imprison them are going back to a semi normal life. The rest will not ever have normalcy because they have never known normalcy.

It is terrible. I think the parent child bond is so strong, that the children are forgiving the parents.
I remember reading about a child ( years ago), that was intentionally burned by the Mother. The child still wanted to go back & live with the Mother. It is not logical or made from common sense, I think it is instinct. I sort of hope those parents do die in jail.

Hmm. When I think of fairness of a sentence, there are some questions:

1. Did the parents believe they were harming their children?

2. Did the parents intend to harm their children?

3. What harm was done?

4. Are they likely to reoffend if released into the general public right now?

5. What sentences have others received for the same behaviors?

6. Is some of this sentence a reaction to how very weird the whole family, created by these parents, appears? Is there some gawk factor?

I struggle with life in prison, with possibility of parole after 25 years. That seems like too much. Also, considering the swiftness of the verdict, I'm guessing the sentence was decided before the children's statements were read. In that case, why put the kids through that whole exercise, if not to listen and consider it? The children were asking for less than 25, and the sentence was at the very least 25, and perhaps never get out.

There's an entire society of men (NAMBLA) who don't think having sex with 5 yo boys harms them. They don't intend to harm them. If they truly believe those two things, should they get a slap on the hand when they're caught?

I sorta understand your questions, but here's another one. Living in America, should the parents have known that this behavior was against the law? The dad was college educated and I assume the mother wasn't stupid but I don't know her education level. This means they were out in public their whole lives and observed how society works. How did they think these kids were going to support themselves after the parents died? They knew the father needed a degree to get a good job, why wouldn't they make sure their kids were educated? The 17 yo girl said she didn't even finish 1st grade. Living in a Western civilized country, how could they not realize the harm they were doing in that respect alone?

I think there's a reasonable expectation that any adult in America should know that chaining up kids and withholding food and not allowing them to be educated is against the law. And even if they don't understand child psychology, I think there's a reasonable expectation that any parent should also know that this upbringing would be harmful to kids and doesn't allow them to grow up to be happy productive adults.

They saw their 27 yo kid grow up and surely they noticed he's still at home living off the parents. So they knew for a fact they weren't raising kids to find their own way in the world. If they cared at all, they'd have changed the way they were raising the younger ones based on the results they got using these methods on their older kids.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClaraC

(And for those who work in the field, for them to say this is the "worst case of child abuse they've ever seen", does that mean they've never worked on a case where a child died from the willful abuse of children by an adult?)

There are worse things than death. I truly believe that. Living with the emotional harm that an abusive childhood piled on you is worse IMHO. They often develop personality disorders which means they won't have many friends and are unable to sustain romantic relationships. They probably have mood disorders and low self esteem which means they feel like crap every day they're alive. It's an absolutely miserable way to live.

If you see something, say something. All the well meaning friends, family, neighbors who knew things seem off need to speak up. Like bystander intervention.
Don't expect the system to be able to police the world. We all have a responsibility.

They had many different charges....and judge went through all the charges and the sentencing for each charge.

Atty on HLN says they must spend at least 25 years....before eligible for parole.

They're' sorry, love their kids. Well, if both those statements are true (big "if"), they should be getting mental health care. The abuse is not something remotely within the realm of normal behavior towards kids that are "loved". But they didn't plead mental health issues. IMO these people need mental health care; they need to be removed from their kids, and put in some kind of restricted situation, where they would be required to show up regularly for therapy sessions for years. I don't know if that would solve anything, though, really, except keeping their kids safe.

I guess, by not pleading insanity, or the like, they basically admitted to being fully cognizant of what they were doing. That doesn't jibe with "I'm truly sorry, I love you".

The couple was arrested and detained but pleaded not guilty to all charges. Various legal charges and court hearings followed in the succeeding months. On February 22, 2019, the couple changed their pleas to guilty on 14 felony counts, including "cruelty to an adult dependent, child cruelty, torture and false imprisonment". On April 19, 2019, the couple was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, although experts believed they would never receive parole due to the severity of the crimes.

What? Some of the biggest monsters in history have been educated and persuasive.

She means that some of the children--sorry, adults--appear well-educated and well-spoken. As to well-spoken, these people may have been chained and beaten but they weren't deprived of speech. You don't need to be educated or even have basic literacy skills in order to speak English, and they had each other to talk to. The 17-year-old who called 911 spoke fluently enough, but said she hadn't even finished the first grade and didn't know the meaning of the word "medication."

If some of the adult "children" have since been attending college, I would assume they were placed first in remedial English and math classes, perhaps some basic science and history, etc., to fill in the gaps in their "education." One of the boys, at least, was allowed to attend some college classes even before the abuse was discovered. Since they had nothing else to do while confined to the house, perhaps he shared what he had learned with the others.

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